Night of the Shadow Moon

by A. E. Rayne

  ‘Good!’ Haaron was surprised that he had been listening. ‘And that’s something I want you three to remember. Build walls! Bolster your defenses! If our enemies come here, they will come everywhere. They will seek to attack Hest from every angle. Try to conquer us piece by piece. That’s why I’m sending you away from here. Part of the reason, at least. To strengthen our borders.’ He thought of Lothar Furyck and sighed. ‘It was not so long ago that we were thinking of claiming Helsabor. Now we must push back against the very real possibility that our neighbours will unite to do the same to us.’

  Haegen was pleased to see that Haaron was back to himself. He felt relieved. As much as he would have preferred to defeat the Brekkans now, he realised that what his father was pursuing made more sense.

  Strengthen your defenses, then attack.

  ‘Let’s go back inside before your mother starts screaming from the doors!’ Haaron smiled, enjoying the image of his furious wife who had already sent a slave out to hurry them up.

  No matter how bitter she became or how ornery and old he felt, he could not help but love Bayla.

  If only she felt the same way.

  Aleksander had not found a soul. Not a house, nor a horse. But he did have a rabbit, a fish, and an idea of where they were now.

  Unfortunately, it was not where they needed to be.

  Amma left Aleksander to take the news to Axl while she busied herself gutting the fish. She was so anxious about Axl’s wounds and worried about how they would find Gant, that she barely noticed how unpleasant a task it was this time.

  ‘I can’t walk.’

  ‘I know,’ Aleksander sighed. ‘But I can carry you.’

  Axl laughed. It hurt. ‘You can’t carry me. Not that far.’

  ‘I’m going to make a rack and tie you to it,’ Aleksander grinned. ‘So, I was wrong. I’m not going to carry you. I’m going to drag you!’

  Axl raised his eyebrows, looking at the state of Aleksander who was covered in cuts and bruises, his arms hanging at his sides in exhaustion. He appeared ready to fall over. ‘And you think you can do that?’

  ‘I can try. It will give me something to do instead of sitting here moaning with you. If we don’t get back to the road in the next few days, Gant will pass us by. He’s not going to take the army off the road. He’s not going to lead all those men through the forest. So, we just have to be by the road, waiting.’

  ‘You could go on your own?’

  ‘I could,’ Aleksander admitted, having thought the same thing himself. ‘But you’re in no shape to protect Amma if something happens. And I don’t think that she could protect you. I’m sure you’d both rather we stuck together?’

  Axl felt embarrassed. ‘Makes sense.’

  ‘Good, well you stay there,’ Aleksander smiled. ‘And I’ll go and find some branches.’ His stomach rumbled, and he remembered the raspberries he had found. Jael’s favourite. He tipped them out of his pouch and handed them to Axl. ‘Here. Something to keep you going.’

  Axl took them gratefully, starving himself. ‘Amma?’ he called. ‘Would you like some berries?’

  Amma shook her head, certain that she was hungry but too ill with nerves to think of eating. The fish guts had quickly turned her stomach, and she almost retched as she threaded a sharpened stick through the cleaned carcass, jumping at every pop and crackle from the fire.

  Waiting for another attack to come.

  Fyn and Entorp had been relieved to see the soldiers abandon the house and they hurried inside, eager to see how everyone was.

  ‘You look much brighter,’ Entorp smiled as he pulled a stool towards Edela and uncorked his jar of salve. The colour of her cheeks was encouraging. Her eyes seemed alert, and her nose immediately turned up at the smell emanating from his jar.

  Jael hurried to the door, taking Fyn and Eydis with her, eager for some fresh air. ‘So,’ she said, glancing around as they walked away from the house, relieved to see that they were not being followed by anything other than two waddling ducks. ‘Tell me what you know about this book, Eydis. Why do you think you can see it?’

  ‘I think it was my grandmother’s,’ Eydis said quietly. ‘That it was her voice I could hear, showing me the right pages, telling me what to say.’

  ‘Is your grandmother still alive?’ Fyn wondered as he loped along beside her, one eye on the road ahead, checking for any obstacles in Eydis’ path.

  Eydis shook her head. ‘No, she died before my mother left Tuura.’

  ‘But she was from here, wasn’t she? And a dreamer?’ Jael wondered, bringing Eydis towards her as a huddle of soldiers approached. They paid them no mind as they hurried on down the street.

  It started to rain. Just a light drizzle, but no one was keen to turn back yet. They were all tired of being confined in such a small space; not ready to feel like prisoners again.

  ‘She was a dreamer, yes,’ Eydis said, pulling up her hood. ‘Her name was Samara.’

  ‘Well, we can’t ask Marcus about the book now,’ Jael frowned. ‘But perhaps you can ask your grandmother? Is that possible, do you think? Can dreamers talk to spirits?’

  Eydis looked terrified by the idea.

  ‘Perhaps Edela would know?’ Fyn suggested, sensing Eydis’ panic.

  ‘Good idea,’ Jael smiled. ‘We have to find some way to break this binding spell. The quicker we can get back to Oss, the better.’

  The waiting was eating away at them all, and the need to keep as many stores reserved as possible meant that meal times had quickly become something that no one looked forward to.

  Evaine pouted as she sat beside Eadmund. ‘Leek soup?’ She lifted her spoon and dribbled the very thin liquid back into her bowl. ‘Why are we eating so much leek soup?’ she grumbled. ‘I told the cook to prepare a suckling pig tonight!’

  Eadmund smiled tightly. ‘I heard. Yetta came and told me of your instructions, but Evaine, we can’t eat as though every night is a feast. We have to ration. That pig needs to stay fat for when things get hard. If we can’t defeat Ivaar easily, our only hope is to hold him out, and we won’t last long if there’s no food left before he even gets here!’

  Evaine harrumphed loudly, pouting some more.

  Morac looked embarrassed by her childishness. Runa, sitting next to him, was not surprised. There was nobody as self-centred as Evaine and for some reason, despite having Eadmund all to herself, living in the hall with him, and having Jael gone, she had been in a foul mood for days.

  Eadmund had too much on his mind to give any further attention to Evaine’s sulk. He glanced at Ayla, who sat at the opposite table helping her husband to eat. Bruno Adea had finally been carried from his sick bed, and although he looked frail, he seemed pleased to be with her.

  Evaine glared at Ayla, watching as Eadmund’s attention kept drifting towards the dreamer. She was convinced that Ayla was doing something to Eadmund to take him away from her. But how was that even possible when he was bound to her soul?

  Evaine was so overcome with jealousy that she could barely see straight. She pushed away her bowl, slopping soup everywhere, and hurried up from the table, disappearing behind the green curtain without another word.

  Morac glanced at Runa in surprise, but Runa kept her eyes down, not wanting any part of it. He swallowed and tried to smile at Eadmund, who looked confused. ‘Evaine has never been especially fond of leek soup,’ Morac said weakly.

  Bruno barely noticed the ruckus as Ayla offered him a piece of bread. It was left over from breakfast and hard to chew on, so she dipped it into his soup to soften it first. He sighed, relieved to be out of that hole, to be away from that island.

  To have his beautiful wife next to him again.

  He took the bread, too full to eat any more but not wanting to disappoint her. She needed him to get strong quickly, he knew, because of what was coming. He had barely eaten in a year, though, and his appetite was so small that he was full almost immediately.

  But he bit into the slice of soupy bread for
her.

  ‘I have to go and see Isaura again tonight,’ Ayla said quietly.

  Bruno frowned. ‘You’ll try again?’

  ‘Yes, I’ll try Eydis this time. There has to be a way to get through to Jael. Ivaar cannot come. I won’t lose you again.’

  Bruno felt his body tense at the sound of that name. He wanted to vomit. He had eaten too much. He needed to lie down. He’d been out of bed for too long, and his body felt weak, but more than anything, he wanted to kill Ivaar Skalleson for what he had done to his wife. He reached for the plate of bread. ‘I think I’ll have some more,’ he said firmly.

  ‘Hmmm,’ Edela murmured, smiling at Eydis who suddenly looked much taller, but so worried as she sat beside her.

  They all looked worried.

  ‘I do remember Samara Lund. But not well. What about you, Derwa?’

  Derwa had come to check on her patient and was very pleased with her progress. She had set Biddy to work on a tonic and another broth and now sat hunched over on Edela’s bed, shooing away Vella, who was trying to lick her ankle. ‘Samara?’ Derwa nodded. ‘Yes, a very skilled dreamer, I remember. Younger than us. She was friends with my sister.’

  Derwa had her own stone now, so they felt free to talk around her.

  ‘She was Rhea Thorsen’s cousin,’ Derwa added. ‘You remember Rhea? Strange girl, that one.’

  Edela blinked.

  ‘What is it?’ Biddy wondered as she came to shift her into a more comfortable position. After so long in bed, Edela’s skin and joints were suffering, and Biddy was conscious of moving her regularly.

  ‘Rhea Thorsen,’ Edela whispered, ‘was Aleksander’s grandmother. The one who was thrown out of the temple for seeking out the Widow.’

  ‘Oh.’ Biddy looked surprised, turning to Eydis who looked confused, and Derwa whose mouth was hanging open.

  ‘Well, things are getting very interesting, aren’t they?’ Edela smiled. ‘And you, Eydis, have just found yourself a new cousin.’ She closed her eyes, exhausted, and thought of dear Aleksander who she knew was in trouble.

  Just as they were in trouble.

  And there had to be something she could do about all of it.

  Aleksander was happy with what he’d managed to construct from six sturdy branches and two cloaks. Thankfully, between all of their pouches, they’d found two fishing hooks and just enough line for Aleksander to tie the cloaks to the branches.

  And within a few hours, his makeshift stretcher was born.

  After easing Axl onto it, Aleksander had picked up the arms, tested that it would hold, and they’d headed off towards the forest.

  It was slow-going, though.

  Aleksander lugged the weighty stretcher behind him, feeling as though his wounded shoulder was about to drop off. He gritted his teeth, brushing away Amma’s offers of help, and eventually, they made their way across the wide expanse of field and bog, into the forest, which is where everything suddenly got much harder.

  ‘I could walk, you know,’ Axl kept muttering from the stretcher, listening to Aleksander’s grunts of discomfort as he stumbled over rocks and tree roots, slipping on pine needles, falling into leaf-covered holes, getting stuck between trees.

  Aleksander lowered the stretcher to the ground at last.

  They had not made much progress, but dusk was already upon them, and they needed a fire. Aleksander looked around. It was the clearest spot he had found all day, and it would at least enable them to lie down in some sort of comfort. ‘No! You can’t!’ he groaned, bending over, hands on hips, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. ‘Axl, you can’t walk! But you will when your legs get a chance to heal. So, just rest! I’ll go and find some wood and something to eat.’ He looked at Amma. ‘Find what you can. Moss, twigs, gather anything small. Dry is good. And stones. Make a circle. I’ll be back soon.’

  Aleksander didn’t wait for the well-meaning protests that he knew would come. He disappeared quickly into the tall, densely packed trees, conscious that sounds of the approaching night were already upon them.

  He had to hurry.

  Axl sighed and dropped his head back onto the stretcher. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said faintly. ‘Sorry for this mess I’ve landed you in. And it looks as though it’s about to get even worse too.’

  ‘I’d much rather be in a mess with you than stuck in Hest with him,’ Amma smiled, turning away, remembering Aleksander’s instructions. ‘But don’t worry, soon we’ll find Gant, and he will have horses, and we will get to Tuura!’ she called over her shoulder.

  Axl tried to cheer up, seeing how brave she was being. His legs were throbbing, and he was starting to shiver. ‘We w-w-will.’ He wanted to see Gant, to have an army behind him, to destroy whatever was doing this to them.

  And then he would turn that army towards Hest and Jaeger Dragos.

  Egil ushered Morana and Yorik into the chamber.

  Jaeger had been looking forward to this all day; playing over in his mind how it would go, what he would say. Toying with the idea of killing them both, then blinking that thought away.

  How would he read the book without them?

  ‘Wine?’ Jaeger asked impatiently.

  ‘No, thank you, my lord.’ Yorik shook his head, eager to get to the book.

  Jaeger grabbed his own goblet and followed them to the table where the book lay, open and waiting.

  Yorik could barely breathe as he approached the ancient book; his body tingling, almost tearful to think that their dreams were finally within reach. He closed his eyes, inhaling its intoxicating scent.

  ‘I don’t imagine you’ll be able to read much with your eyes closed,’ Jaeger muttered.

  Yorik blinked and composed himself. ‘No, of course not, but for what we need to do, we must have a clear mind. You understand?’

  Jaeger didn’t, but he followed them to the book, watching closely as Yorik sat down in front of it, Morana hovering over his left shoulder. Yorik reached out slowly to touch the book and Jaeger wanted to scream. But he drank his wine and flexed his fist and glared at him instead.

  Morana guided Yorik to the part of the book she had been working so hard to translate. It was written as though an afterthought, on the inside of the back cover, next to where that page had been torn out.

  Yorik ran his hand over the jagged edge, wondering if Raemus’ own hand had been there, then frowned. ‘Well, I see. That doesn’t make sense, does it?’ His eyes met Jaeger’s as he leaned forward. ‘Morana is right, there are some words... some phrases in here that are strange. Confusing.’ He motioned for Morana to sit beside him. ‘But I’m sure that we can figure this out together,’ he smiled at her.

  Morana didn’t smile back.

  She felt much the same as Jaeger, not wanting Yorik’s hands anywhere near the book; grimacing as he caressed the pages, touching each delicately drawn symbol, running his finger under every line of text.

  She swallowed, irritated, biting her tongue; too distracted by a loud buzzing in her ears to think of anything at all.

  Eadmund kissed Evaine quickly and edged towards the bedchamber door.

  ‘Where are you going?’ she asked sharply. ‘You only just came in!’

  ‘I have to go and speak to Thorgils,’ Eadmund lied. ‘I have some things to organise.’

  Evaine huffed and puffed her way over to him. ‘Surely you’ve organised everything you could possibly organise by now?’

  Eadmund felt weary and his smile was forced. ‘Evaine, we’re about to be attacked. Ayla has seen that and –’

  ‘Ayla!’ Evaine spat. ‘Why do you care so much about what she thinks? She worked for Ivaar! How can you even think to trust her?’ She reached out and turned Eadmund’s face towards hers, running her hands down his furry cheeks. ‘Why would you take notice of anything she says?’

  Eadmund felt a sudden need to throw Evaine onto the bed and lift up her nightdress. She was wild, and her eyes were frenzied with jealousy, and it heated his body quickly. She wanted to possess a
ll of him, and he was filled with the desire to lose himself in her until nothing else existed.

  But, he shook his head, there would be no Evaine, no Oss, nothing at all if he didn’t find a way to keep Ivaar out.

  ‘Ayla was Ivaar’s prisoner. The last thing she wants is Ivaar to come. He will take her back, kill her husband.’

  ‘So she says.’

  ‘Well, Isaura says so too. And besides, Ivaar wants to kill me, and that has nothing to do with Ayla at all,’ Eadmund insisted, pushing Evaine away, sensing that he had to leave before he could no longer control himself. ‘Now, go and see Sigmund. I’ll be back soon, I promise.’

  Ayla was doing the dream walk at the cottage again and this time, Eadmund and Thorgils were going to watch.

  He didn’t want to be late.

  Jael kissed Eydis’ cheek as she tucked her into bed and placed her hand on Ido, who lay with his head on her chest. His sister was still happily sniffing about for crumbs.

  Eydis had been excited to find out that she was Aleksander’s cousin. Thinking that she had a family she didn’t know about had distracted her for the afternoon. Now, though, Jael needed to get her thinking about the book.

  ‘You must try to find your grandmother in your dreams,’ Jael reminded her. ‘She guided you to the answers when you needed them, and now we need the biggest answer of all. A way to set everyone free from the binding spell, so we can go home to Eadmund.’

  ‘I’ll try,’ Eydis nodded sleepily. ‘I’ll try. Goodnight, Jael,’ she yawned.

  ‘Goodnight, Eydis.’

  Meena could barely breathe as she shuffled outside Morana’s door.

  She knew that Morana was with Jaeger, but...

  Morana would know. She would know.

  Know that she had been in her chamber. Know that she had stolen a book.